Pride Network Board Member, Reni Calister, is running the IRONMAN 70.3 Lake Placid. Reni has generously decided run the race in honor of The Pride Network. We could not be more thrilled. Please help Reni and The Pride Network reach our goal of $3,000.00 by the day of the race, September 9th, 2018. Our suggested donation is $70.30, as that is the same number of miles that are in a half Ironman course. Please consider making a donation; every dollar helps us toward our goal.

OnMay 26th,The Pride Network will be hosting our Spring 2018 Speak Summit; a day-long leadership and social justice conference at Rutgers University-Newark. At Speak Summits, LGBTQ youth attend educational workshops, meet other LGBTQ youth from different areas, and interact with LGBTQ professionals. Speak Summits are FREE of charge for all youth.

For just $20, you can sponsor a young person to attend the Speak Summit. Your $20 donation will include registration, breakfast, lunch, and learning materials.

Speak Summits are far more than a day of learning. Speak Summits fosters a sense of empowerment, expands community and gives these young people a greater sense of self-worth. Be a a part of their growth. The Pride Network will be grateful and more importantly, the youth will be better for it.

Did you know that by using this link (https://smile.amazon.com/ch/27-4117701) to log onto your Amazon account, 0.5% of your qualified purchases will be donated to The Pride Network? All proceeds The Pride Network receives from AmazonSmile will go directly to our youth programming. Because The Pride Network is such a grassroots organization, every dollar truly counts toward continuing our mission of providing LGBTQ youth with leadership training and social justice education. We hope you will consider The Pride Network when shopping on Amazon.

As I get older, I am finding that I ask myself increasingly, "What will my legacy be?" When I started my career, almost 15 years ago, I thought my legacy would be whatever career goal I would achieve. Then something changed; I started working with LGBTQ youth in my mid-20's. I was exposed to the isolation, trauma, violence, and discrimination so many LGBTQ youth face, especially street involved youth and youth of color. As my work progressed, the idea of legacy became secondary as being present to support these young people became the primary purpose of the work. More than a decade after starting my journey, former young people who have become productive adults, began to reach out to me and express how much my time and attention to their lives have meant to them. The more young people reached out, the more I began to realize what my legacy is: them, the next generation of leadership.

Coretta Scott-King wrote "Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation." The next generation certainly has a lot to fight for; protection of LGBTQ rights, economic equality, immigration rights and gun control to name a few. To do this, these young people need the support of LGBTQ adults and allies. The heart of The Pride Network’s mission is to prepare youth for the challenges of protecting and changing their communities. To do this, we need your support. Please consider donating to The Pride Network. All donations go directly to our programming. You can donate hereand be a part of The Pride Network legacy.